Stockholm, Sweden, April 26, 2022: Digital health company Pilloxa today announced they have signed a collaboration to provide a digital patient support solution based on their software and smart pillbox for a trial to be conducted at Sahlgrenska University Hospital involving patients with Type 1 Diabetes and Addison’s Disease. The project involves the Department of Endocrinology-Diabetes-Metabolism at Sahlgrenska University Hospital as well as the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition at the Institute of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy within the University of Gothenburg.
Patients suffering from both Type 1 Diabetes and Addison’s Disease are treated with both insulin and cortisone. This presents major challenges due to the opposing effects each treatment exerts on glucose homeostasis. Consequently, insulin treatment needs to be adjusted in relation to both cortisone and food intake to mimic the physiological endogenous profiles. Misalignment between factors such as timing of food, macronutrient distribution in food and physical activity can lead to emotional stress and stressful events including hypo- or hyper-glycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, adrenal crisis and even death. The condition is not uncommon, in Sweden alone around 10,500 patients are treated with both insulin and cortisone a year.
Leading the collaboration with Pilloxa from Sahlgrenska is researcher Dimitrios Chantzichristos, M.D., who is championing research in the field by supporting these rare combination disease patients: “Patients with diabetes and cortisone treatment struggle in their everyday life to balance the doses of insulin and cortisone in order to avoid emergencies such as hypoglycemia and adrenal crisis. Our challenge as healthgivers is to provide them with efficient tools in order to minimize these risks. And this is the aim of our upcoming study, which wouldn’t be feasible without the use of modern digital health technology, as is so generously provided from Piloxa.”
The new trial seeks to advance understanding of the interplay between insulin treatment and intake of cortisone and food. Specifically, the aims are 1) to improve insulin treatment by identifying the periods with raised risk for hypo- or hyper-glycemia during the day and 2) to improve cortisone treatment by comparing the two available hydrocortisone tablet preparations in terms of metabolic and non-metabolic outcomes in patients with both insulin and cortisone treatment.
The research questions in the trial are the following:
- Do patients treated with insulin & cortisone develop more often 1. hypoglycemia before the intake of cortisone tablets in the morning and 2. hyperglycemia during the evening compared with the rest of the day?
- Do patients treated with insulin & dual-release hydrocortisone tablets have a more physiological cortisol profile and outcome compared with patients treated with insulin & conventional hydrocortisone tablets?
The researchers aim to answer these questions by studying glucose fluctuations in a well-defined patient group with insulin and cortisone treatment (patients with both type 1 diabetes and Addison’s disease) by collecting real-time information about the administration of insulin, cortisone, and food intake with the help of technology such as a patient app and continuous glucose monitor.
Pilloxa will support the trial with their software solutions and smart pillbox and Pilloxa’s CEO, Helena Ronnqvist, comments: “The importance of real-time data tracking and patient reporting is crucial for this study in order to establish recommendations on how to best medicate going forward as a patient taking both insulin and cortisone. We are proud to contribute to continuing research in this area and to support patients with both Type I diabetes and Addison’s disease. Managing medication daily alongside activities such as eating, exercising, work, and stressful events is not an easy feat and is complex to accurately track. We hope to make it easier by seamlessly fitting into a patient’s routine and providing the necessary data needed to develop their treatment journey.”
Ronnqvist continues: “With our digital patient support solutions, we aim to provide innovators with the needed tools and insights to enable sustained learning within health so that the focus can be shifted towards patient needs and how to best support them. Whether you are a researcher, doctor, or pharmaceutical company – you can use our solutions to better support your patients.”
This trial is scheduled to start in September 2022 with results by the end of 2023.
For more information, please contact:
Helena Ronnqvist, CEO, Pilloxa, .
Dimitrios Chantzichristos, MD and PhD, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, .
About Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Sahlgrenska University Hospital is one of Sweden’s largest hospitals. We improve healthcare through the application of strong innovation and clinic research in close and broad cooperation with academia, industry and patients.
https://www.sahlgrenska.se/en/
About Sahlgrenska Academy
The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. Research and education in medicine, odontology, and health and care sciences – always in close contact with practical care.
https://www.gu.se/en/sahlgrenska-akademin
About Pilloxa
Pilloxa is a technological, regulatory, and legal platform for healthcare and pharma to create dynamic apps to support patients and learn from user data. Partners include Bayer, Chiesi, Sandoz, and Karolinska University Hospital.
To learn more about Pilloxa’s new product offering, explore our solutions at www.pilloxa.com